Prayer and Labor

James Hudson Taylor (1832–1902) was born in Barnsley, England, on May 21, 1832, to Christian parents.

As a teenager, he became skeptical about his faith and engaged in worldly activities. One day, his mother felt the urge to pray for him until she was convinced that her prayer was answered. That same day, Hudson had an amazing conversion experience, and eventually, he sensed God’s call to become a missionary to China.

He began to study Mandarin, as well as Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

Under the auspices of the Chinese Evangelization Society, he received medical training at a hospital in London. On September 19, 1853, at the age of twenty-one, Hudson left Liverpool on the vessel Dumfries and arrived in Shanghai, China, on March 1, 1854. In 1865, Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission (CIM).

In his book, China: Its Spiritual Need and Claims (1865), Taylor stated, Can the Christians of England sit still with folded arms while these multitudes are perishing —perishing for lack of knowledge— for lack of that knowledge which England possesses so richly, which has made England what England is, and has made us what we are? What does the MASTER teach us? Is it not that if one sheep out of a hundred be lost, we are to leave the ninety and nine and seek that one? But here the proportions are almost reversed, and we stay at home with the one sheep, and take no heed to the ninety and nine perishing ones!52 Hudson Taylor dedicated fifty-one years of his life to being a missionary in China. There was a passion and an urgency in everything he did.

It has been said that the sun never rose on China without finding Hudson Taylor on his knees. When he died, there were 205 CIM mission stations, 849 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians. Wherever we are serving the Lord, we should be filled with the same passion for souls and determination for mission that motivated Hudson Taylor.